Wanna Play in the High School Band, Join the Chess Club or Take Chemistry or AP English? Prepare to Pay $$.

Citing dire academic budget constraints across the nation’s public school systems, some high school educators have responded by assessing fees on everything from sports and club activities, to supplies for specific classes, the Wall Street Journal reported.

“At high schools in several states, it costs more than $200 just to walk in the door,” the paper said, “thanks to registration fees, technology fees and unspecified ‘instructional fees.’” Without the revenue from the fees, school officials say they’d be forced to eliminate many activities and courses.

Among the fees the paper listed included these: A high school in Littleton, Colorado charges $18 for ninth grade English, $75 for AP English Literature, $40 for AP Chemistry and $20 for German II. A Shannon, New Jersey regional high school charges students $200 to participate in “one or more activities” including the literary magazine, the Gay/Straight Alliance, Students Against Drunk Driving and the Student Government. (May 2011)